Ania Dorfmann (9 July 189921 April 1984) was a Russian-American pianist and teacher, who taught at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

in New York for many years and was the first of only a very few women pianists to play or record under

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...

Career

Ania Dorfmann was born in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

(now in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) in 1899, the daughter of a merchant. She gave her first concert at the age of 11. Around this time she accompanied the even younger

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilnius, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian classical violin styl ...

.holdridgerecords.com
/ref> In 1916-17 she studied in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

with

Isidor Philipp Isidor Edmond Philipp (first name sometimes spelled Isidore) (2 September 1863 – 20 February 1958) was a French pianist, composer, and pedagogue of Jewish Hungarian descent. He was born in Budapest and died in Paris. Biography Isidor Philipp ...

at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

,Juilliard School
/ref> then returned to Russia to find it in the midst of

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

. She returned to France in 1920, commenced her professional career in Belgium,''The News and Courier'', 23 October 1953
/ref> and played throughout Europe and Britain for the next 15 years, under such conductors as

Willem Mengelberg Joseph Wilhelm Mengelberg (28 March 1871 – 21 March 1951) was a Dutch conductor, famous for his performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Strauss with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

, Sir

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philh ...

and Sir

Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundr ...

.Naxos
/ref> She made her home in London during this time. Among the artists she appeared with in Britain were John McCormack and

Heddle Nash William Heddle Nash (14 June 189414 August 1961) was an English lyric tenor who appeared in opera and oratorio. He made numerous recordings that are still available on CD reissues. Nash's voice was of the light tenor class known as " tenore di ...

. She made her

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

debut in 1936 at the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

, and played there again in 1938 and 1939. She was the first female pianist ever engaged as a soloist by

, under whom she played

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's '' Choral Fantasy'' with his

NBC Symphony Orchestra The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, the parent corporation of the National Broadcasting Company especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC ...

on 2 December 1939, the only time Toscanini ever programmed that work.Mortimer H Frank, ''Arturo Toscanini: The NBC Years'', pp. 122-123 They later played all the Beethoven piano concertos, and recorded the First Concerto in 1945 (there is also a recording of a live performance from 1939). She settled in the United States in 1938, touring and recording. Her agent at that time was David Rubin. Her appearances included concerts under

Serge Koussevitzky Serge Koussevitzky (born Sergey Aleksandrovich Kusevitsky;Koussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his sig ...

. In 1947 Ania Dorfmann worked intensively with the actress

Barbara Stanwyck Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career, she was known for her strong, realistic screen p ...

, who was making the film ''

The Other Love ''The Other Love'' is a 1947 American film noir drama romance film directed by Andre DeToth and starring Barbara Stanwyck, David Niven, and Richard Conte. Written by Ladislas Fodor and Harry Brown based on the story "Beyond" by Erich Maria ...

'', in which she played a concert pianist. Although Ania Dorfmann played the piano music heard on screen, she had Stanwyck practise for three hours a day to make her actions match the music. In 1956 (some sources say 1966) she joined the piano faculty of the

, where she remained for most of the rest of her life. Ania Dorfmann's students included Lev Natochenny, Alexander Peskanov, Solveig Funseth, Minuetta Kessler, Raymond Jackson, Suezenne Fordham, Roman Markowicz, Robert Shannon, and Marian Migdal. She retired in June 1983 and died on 21 April 1984, aged 84.

Personal life

She was the wife of Vladimir Dorfmann, a Russian businessman she met in Paris. Their daughter, Natacha Ullman (1929-1986), was a writer who used the pen name Natacha Stewart; she was the author of "Evil Eye and Other Stories", and a frequent contributor to ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''. Natacha had two sons, Nicolas and Alex Ullman.

Recordings

Ania Dorfmann made a number of recordings primarily for

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

, some of the most notable of which were: *

: Piano Sonata No. 8 (''Pathétique''), Piano Sonata No. 14 (''Moonlight'') * Beethoven: Triple Concerto, Michel Piastro, violin and Joseph Schuster, cello,

, live recordingUniversity of Maryland
/ref> * Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, NBC SO, Toscanini (2 recordings; one live recording from 1939 and a studio recording from 1945) * Beethoven, '' Choral Fantasy'', NBC SO, Toscanini, Carnegie Hall, December 1939, live recording * Chopin: ''

Tarantelle Tarantella () is a group of various southern Italian folk dances originating in the regions of Calabria, Campania, Sicilia, and Apulia. It is characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in time (sometimes or ), accompanied by tambourines ...

''cd universe
/ref> * Chopin:

Waltzes The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of N ...

: Piano Concerto in A minor, Robin Hood Dell Orchestra,

Erich Leinsdorf Erich Leinsdorf (born Erich Landauer; February 4, 1912 – September 11, 1993) was an Austrian-born American conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a ...

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 10 *

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

: Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor **

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

Walter Goehr Walter Goehr (; 28 May 19034 December 1960) was a German composer and conductor who from 1937, lived and worked in the UK. He was the father of composer Alexander Goehr. Biography Goehr was born in Berlin, where he studied with Arnold Schoenberg a ...

audiophile audition
/ref> ** Robin Hood Dell Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf * Mendelssohn, ''

Songs Without Words ''Songs Without Words'' (') is a series of short lyrical piano works by the Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn written between 1829 and 1845. His sister, Fanny Mendelssohn, and other composers also wrote pieces in the same genre. Music The ...

'' (complete) * Menotti: ''Ricercare and Toccata'' *

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

: Sonatine *

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

: ''

Carnaval Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

'', Op. 9 * Schumann: ''Fantasiestücke'', Op. 12 * Schumann: ''

Album for the Young ''Album for the Young'' ('), Op. 68, was composed by Robert Schumann in 1848 for his three daughters. The album consists of a collection of 43 short works. Unlike the ', they are suitable to be played by children or beginners. The second part, st ...

'', Op. 68, excerptsMiami University Libraries
/ref> *

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

, arr Tausig: ''Valse-Caprice No. 2 "Man lebt nur einmal"'' (1938; only the second recording of this work,

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

having first recorded it in 1927)Classics Online
*

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

: ''Album pour enfants'', Op. 39, excerpts * Tchaikovsky: '' The Seasons'', excerpts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorfmann, Ania 1899 births 1984 deaths Russian classical pianists Russian women pianists American classical pianists American women classical pianists Conservatoire de Paris alumni Juilliard School faculty American piano educators Odesa Jews Pupils of Isidor Philipp 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century classical pianists Jewish classical pianists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women pianists Russian music educators Russian women music educators American music educators American women music educators Musicians from Odesa Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States